Assault
by Zaknafein47
Summary: Ganon attacks yet again. But this time, somebody new has entered the fray... Finally finished
1. Prologue

AUTHOR'S NOTE—This story takes place seven years after Link's return to Hyrule from Termina

Author's Note—This story takes place seven years after Link's return to Hyrule from Termina. He lost all his items from Ocarina but the Ocarina of Time, as it never happened. He kept all the items from Majora's Mask, but the only one he can still use is the Great Fairy's Sword, which he can now use one-handed. He also bought a shield and a bow.

Yes, I took the dragon name from Magic: The Gathering. But nothing else! 

****

Book One

ONSLAUGHT

**Prologue**

The Desert Colossus stretched out as far as the eye could see, its silence absolute.

That was, except for the shrieks.

They were pretty loud, as a Gerudo was heartlessly slitting throats.

The prisoners, all Hylians, were hanging by chains, attached to their wrists.

The Gerudo, before each victim, would murmur, spread a little powder, and slit.

She came to the last victim. This one was different. This Hylian wore a blue tunic, and had a fancy scabbard on his back.

She murmured for much longer this time, and instead of simply slitting his throat, she carved an intricate design on his chest. She sprinkled more powder onto the cuts, after slicing the chest part of his tunic off.

The design turned out to be a very detailed picture of a dragon. The powder filled in the cuts and absorbed the blood, but made the design yellowish.

He was restrained the whole time, though he stared at his chest in horror.

When the Gerudo finished, she replaced his tunic with a whitish blue one. She moved the scabbard and sword, though not before hitting him on the head with the handle.


	2. One

CHAPTER I ****

Chapter I

Link jerked up suddenly. Another nightmare…

But this one was different. All his previous ones had something to do with Ganon or Majora. But this one…

He supposed it might have something to do with Ganon, because he had been a Gerudo. Link shrugged and sat up.

He glanced down and noticed…

He was wearing a blue-white tunic.

Horrified, he pulled it away from his chest and looked under.

A yellow dragon was imprinted there.

Link immediately gathered his small amount of belongings he had used for his makeshift campsite and put them in Epona's saddlebags. Then he played Saria's Song. He needed to confer with the Sages.

"Saria? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, Link, what's the matter?"

He described, quickly, what had happened. Ruto thought that it had all really happened, while Impa was convinced it was a vision. The other Sages agreed with one or the other.

Meanwhile, Link started feeling strange. Something was happening on his chest.

He cradled the ocarina between his shoulder and ear, then looked down.

His chest was growing golden scales!

Link started to shout in surprise, but found he couldn't. The scales had reached his neck, and apparently affected internal organs as well.

What came out was a half-roar, half-growl. Saria called his name, but he couldn't respond.

The changes mutated his entire body. Even though his neck changed quickly, his head was the last thing to go.

He stared down the whole time, watching his body get bigger and change. His clothes ripped as his body expanded. After he fell forward on all fours, he could see the underside of wings that sprouted from his shoulder blades.

__

What's going on?!

His head, finally, changed. 

Vision improved, but scent was almost gone. He could hear a mouse scuffling underground a hundred feet away.

Link tried to talk into his ocarina again, but it didn't work. Another growl-roar.

Against his will, his new wings flapped and he flew.

__

Why can't I control myself?

Link found himself soaring, all possessions left behind, towards the Gerudo valley.

In a matter of seconds, he was over the Desert Colossus, going past the Spirit Temple. He soared until he reached another, larger and more elaborate, building.

His wings stopped flapping for a second, and he soared in through a large hole in the roof of the building.

This building was very fancy inside, with all kinds of ornaments hanging about. Link found himself on a marble floor.

"Hello. And what can you do for me today?"

Saria reached out. Mentally, not physically.

"He's alive." Saria concluded, opening her eyes. "Alive, but different."

"Different in what way?"

"I can't tell, but I sense Ganon…"

Link felt himself regain total control, just for a second.

Then someone brainwashed him.

The masked figure slowly poured the liquids together, resulting in a black ripple in the air a few feet away.

A figure made its way out, slowly.

The figure had red hair, and a greenish tint to its brown skin. His body was covered in an armor-like shell. He had a reddish-orange emblem on his forehead, and five more on his chest.

Ganondorf was back.

Ganondorf strode quickly through the hall. He came to the cell in a few minutes.

A golden dragon was standing there, about four feet tall and six feet long.

"He has been brainwashed?" Ganondorf demanded. He knew the answer already.

"Yes, master," his servant confirmed. "Link no longer exists. Only the dragon. His name is Rith, as you ordered."

"Good. He can fly and breath fire?" The servant nodded. Ganondorf commanded, "Rith. Burn the castle and market to the ground."

Rith nodded and took off.

The mask was there, in its display case, all but forgotten.

By most people.

But not to her. No, she hadn't forgotten. She never would.

The Odentian glanced around nervously. After a second, her hands flashed through the case and back out, mask in them. Grasping the mask close to her, she ran out the door.

Cornered!

She flung her body to the right, avoiding the arrows. Then she leapt onto the nearby wall.

Her assailant was sure she would fall, so he shot an arrow directly beneath her.

Bad guess.

The front of each of her boots gave way to the newly sprouted claws, which sunk into the rough wood. She scrambled up to the roof of the shabby building and jumped.

It looked like she would fall, but she floated lightly through the air. Her assailant just gaped as she laughed.

Rith saw the teenage girl floating through the air, holding some kind of mask. From above, he could see a sort of bluish-green aura. He inwardly shrugged. She wasn't resisting, so why bother?

He opened his mouth, and flaming fury erupted. The massive fireball engulfed the market, leaving only burning remnants in seconds. Rith could hear bombs and bombchu exploding in the background.

People ran, screaming, toward the castle. Rith melted their place of refuge in a matter of seconds. He left the place a smoldering ruin.

The Odentian girl watched as the dragon destroyed the town. She shrugged. Well, he was just helping her do her holy job. If the infidels controlled him, she would just kill him too.

Surai landed gently on the ground, in the middle of the place those infidels called the Lost Woods.

She slipped on the ancient mask, its holiness changing her forever.

The mask, unlike with the infidels, transfigured her body into the most holy of all creatures—the griffin.

She felt the wonder of the reshaping, her imperfect body being discarded for the most holy of all.

She was a burning whitish-gold—literally. Her feathers, when she wanted, burst into flames. An infidel had painted the mask's purples and oranges on, those colors of the devil. The horrid paint had also changed the mask's form when it felt the need to battle.

As the holy process completed, Surai knew she was no longer Surai. She was Majora.

The Chamber of Sages was practically exploding.

Everyone had a different opinion, and a different solution, and everyone tried to convince each other they were right.

Finally, Rauru brought them to order.

"QUIET!"

Everyone shut up and looked at him.

"First, Saria. What do you have to say?"

"Uh, nothing."

The others, though, did have opinions. They found a solution.

Hasoer led his troops in. Twenty of the finest Odentian warriors. Himself.

And Majora.

He had been very, very surprised that Majora had chosen Surai. He expected her to be rejected.

But even more, he expected loyalty!

He had told her to bring the mask to him, not to wear it! Because of her—her treachery, he was barely accepted as leader anymore!

But, that didn't matter. In the heat of combat, his warriors would turn to instinct. And instinct said to trust him.

He gave the signal.

The invasion began.

****


	3. Two

CHAPTER II ****

Chapter II

The Odentian warriors started with the canyon. It had a large force of infidels, but a pathetic one. The Odentians simply avoided the arrows, or better yet—caught them. And hurled them back.

The griffin that was Majora swooped from infidel to infidel, picking them off one by one. Hasoer and the twenty others attacked with arms, legs, even heads, occasionally using fingernail-sprouted claws and toenail-sprouted ones.

The infidel's main force decimated, a handful of better ones came out. They fought with double large swords.

For a second, a few warriors held back (largely due to their enemies' arrogance). But they went all out as Hasoer kicked a guard's sword right back at her, ending her resistance very quickly.

The area cleansed, one Odentian stayed behind. The others moved on.

They had, of course, forgotten the Desert Colossus.

Ganondorf had started conquering again.

He already controlled the land where Hyrule Castle and the Market used to stand. He had taken the Lost Woods and Kokiri Forest, in addition to Kakariko. Death Mountain still stood free, but not for long.

Rith was currently off taking Zora River and their Domain. He expected it to be his within a few hours—Rith was instructed not to breathe fire; it could evaporate the water. Then his idea wouldn't work, would it? And he couldn't have that.

The Sages (Zelda among them) gathered. They had to put their plan into action.

They knew about the invaders, and also about their one mistake—the overlooking of the Spirit Temple. They would make their stand there.

But first, they had one more task.

Rauru had told them about an ancient prophecy. It told of Hyrule's greatest hero being controlled, of their conquering, of their almost doom.

It told about a duel of honor—actually, two simultaneous ones. One between the leaders of both conquerors, one between their best fighters.

And it told of the solution.

Hasoer sprinted across the field, his strong legs going as fast as they could.

He came to the northern village called Kakariko, up its steps. He ran to the building he knew it was in.

He slowed down now, so it would look like he had just taken a leisurely walk there. Hasoer didn't bother to knock.

The door squeaked open. As he walked in, Hasoer saw what he had been looking for.

Instantly his hands shot out, and pulled it out, through the glass. The owner, who had been about to greet him, pulled out a bow from under the table.

All the owner noticed was a laugh, and the door splintered. The man was gone—he had run straight through it.

Outside, Hasoer stopped, just about to the stairs. He slipped on the mask, and felt its power run through him.

There was no transformation for him. The mask didn't even show—he looked exactly the same. But Hasoer knew he wasn't.

As the mask's power flew through him, Hasoer knew that he could no longer truly be called Hasoer. Only Emanon. The god of war.

It was almost midnight. Only twenty-four hours ago, Hyrule had been entirely peaceful, except for the little-known disappearance of the Hero of Time.

But Hyrule could not be more radically different.

All of northern and most of eastern Hyrule was in a state of ruin and despair. Ganondorf controlled them.

Southern and western Hyrule were almost no different. This was Odentian territory.

The Spirit Temple was the only place somewhat peaceful, if not normal. The Sages were there, along with some of the military and a few other people.

Lon Lon Ranch was surrounded in turmoil. Nobody controlled it.

It would be the site of the honor duels, having been arranged by the Odentians a few hours ago. At dawn, the ranch would be vacated, except for four.

Rith and Ganondorf stood, waiting impatiently for the Odentians. They came just before the sun cleared the horizon.

Silently, Rith and Majora, Ganondorf and Emanon paired off.

As the sun became entirely visible, the burst at each other. Rith and Majora took to the sky, while Ganondorf and Emanon stayed on the ground.

Rith and Majora snapped at each other—beak flashing, fire flaring, talons scraping. Majora seemed to temporarily have the edge, her smaller size and agility helping.

The thing was, Rith's scales seemed impervious. Her beak and talons merely skidded off.

On the ground, Emanon seemed to be winning. He casually flung aside anything Ganondorf threw at him.

Suddenly, he charged. His sword straight out, he plunged it through Ganondorf's chest. Ganondorf fell down.

Emanon started to calmly watch Rith and Majora. He didn't notice Ganondorf transforming, changing.

Ganon emerged.

Ganon merely took one swipe at Emanon with his sword. Emanon's legs fell out from beneath him. He seemed to think that ended his resistance, and thrusted his spear at Emanon's back.

Emanon rolled over, avoiding the spear. He smiled as Ganon watched, amazed.

"Yes, Ganon. I _am_ the true Emanon. Not a fake."

Emanon grew and changed as well. This form was—

Ganon.

"Now we're equal. Let's see who is truly the better fighter, shall we?"

Swords and spears flashed, but Emanon was clearly better. Ganon's blocks became more and more frantic, barely being able to keep up. And then he couldn't at all.

Emanon's sword flashed. Ganon moved to block it. And then Emanon plunged his spear through Ganon's face.

Emanon returned to his Odentian form and watched the battle rage in the sky.

Rith and Majora still battled, Majora evading anything thrown at her, Rith withstanding.

The Sages gathered their power together. They could do it…

Rith suddenly seemed to explode, his scales and other body parts flying everywhere.

From within merged six shapes, each falling to the ground.

Majora gaped (if a griffin could) as the shapes fell. They landed gracefully, and Majora realized the shapes were Hylians.

As Majora stared, the figures pulled out bows. Six arrows flew at her—one red, one blue, and the rest normal.

The red arrow hit her first. Fire engulfed her body. She writhed in pain, from both the fire and the four normal arrows.

Emanon watched, calm, as he saw the blue arrow hit the griffin. Majora froze over, then fell. And shattered.

Pieces of ice shot out from her shattered body. She was dead.

Emanon turned to face the figures. He bowed, as had been arranged, accepting that they had won their fight. The Hylians bowed in return.

He then said simply, "One of you six. Forward."

The Hylians (who Emanon had realized were the same person, at different stages of their lives) discussed it for a second. Then the youngest, the child, stepped forward. Emanon laughed.

"Is that your best? Oh well. He shall die."

Emanon lashed out with a flurry of fierce attacks, but the kid simply avoided them.

Then he took something out. Some kind of mask…

Emanon recognized it as the very mask he had on his face, the one infidels distorted and warped.

The kid put it on, and Emanon was surprised at what followed. He transformed!

The mask had decided him worthy! Hasoer suddenly had more respect, but instantly discarded it. The infidels had warped it, after all.

The figure there was adult, in armor and wielding a helix sword. Emanon gasped at the ancient symbol. It couldn't have been warped enough, then, to think he was worthy when he wasn't…

Emanon was forced to stop that train of thought, as the helix sword flung a blue energy disk at him. This mask must be almost completely the same…

Emanon dodged the disk. His snap to the right turned into a jump as the warrior tried to stab him.

Emanon decided to make the jump a cartwheel. His feet, and the claws on them, would have decapitated the warrior, had his reflexes been an instant slower.

But they weren't. The sword came up, glowing with blue energy…

The magic flowed through Emanon's body. The magical energy converted instantly into electricity on contact with Emanon, and he fell to the ground. He had been beaten.

But the warrior knew he would heal, and quickly. He plunged the sword through the Odentian's back.

The warrior took off his mask, and returned to being a kid, no more than eleven. But a victorious eleven year-old.

****


	4. Three

BOOK TWO ****

Book Two

flight

**Chapter III**

The Sages ended the enchantment. A mile or so away, the six figures merged into one, the one they had been before it all started.

Link felt in his pockets for his ocarina, and pulled it out. He played a quick song, and quickly talked to Saria over his ocarina.

He then played another song, but this time he didn't talk to anyone. Instead, he warped to the Desert Colossus.

Link appeared on a stone plate in the desert. He jogged up to the temple and walked in. Zelda greeted him, and lead him to the main room, the one with the gigantic statue to the Gerudo god in it.

The Sages, Link, and the military leaders went into a small adjoining room. There they held a council of war. They decided on a way to take back Hyrule. It would start by taking the valley, then expanding east and north, eventually coming around and cornering the Odentians in Lake Hylia.

After the others had left, Zelda gave Link the Master Sword. She had rescued it from the ruins of the Temple of Time—when he was Rith, his evil fire couldn't destroy it. She also gave him advice.

"If anything goes wrong, the Sages are going to Termina. You should come with us." Link merely nodded. "Also, take these. You know what they are." Zelda told him, giving him fire, light, and ice arrows. Link didn't question where she got the fire and ice arrows. He just took them.

The next morning, their plan started. The attack took place two hours before dawn—probably when the Odentian defense was weakest. Link was the first to go out, along with three others—the Odentians had three guards, or so the army generals said. The main army came behind them.

Link saw three Odentians, each near the bridge. They hadn't noticed him yet, so Link shot a fire arrow at them.

His target turned around a second before it hit, and caught it in her bare hands. Unlike the other ones she had caught, though, this one was flaming. Link allowed himself a smile as she jumped in pain and surprise, but brought his shield up instantly a she hurled it back at him anyway. His respect for their warriors grew.

He heard something behind him, and glanced back for a second. One of the other three who had come with him had fallen, due to an Odentian on her back. Link flipped back and came down with the Master Sword in his hand, parrying the karate-style chop. The Odentian's hand didn't hit the blade—he wasn't _that_ stupid. He stopped his hand from coming down, but slid into a sort of sliding tackle. Link jumped up and kicked his opponent in the face, and brought his sword in for the kill. As he landed, he twisted his ankle and cursed—but he felt his left hand heat up, and he was fine.

Link glanced around for a second, and cursed loudly. There were twelve Odentian warriors, counting the one he just killed! While he was fighting that one, the others had gone around killing off the army. He counted eleven people remaining, including him.

As Link engaged another, he knew he wouldn't last long—five more had ganged up on him, and the Triforce could only heal while he was resting…

He then remembered something. He had gone around Hyrule, before all this, getting the three magic spells he had used. That included Nayru's Love—he could become invincible for a short period of time.

Link quickly performed the spell, and slashed at the Odentians through the protective shield. Anything they did to him was simply deflected.

The Odentians weren't that stupid, but he had taken one down (not killed, only unable to fight as she had no arms past her elbows, or legs past her knees—she had forced him to do this to her) before they could run away.

By the time Nayru's Love had worn out, he was the only one remaining.

The Sages urged Link, through telepathy, to get to Termina. He finally warped to the Lost Woods. After him, the Sages followed.

They met him in the Sacred Forest Meadow. Link led the way to the magical gate leading to Termina. He had called Epona; she was walking next to him.

After about fifteen minutes, they found the gate. The eight and Epona hurried through, until they got to the door leading to the hole.

"After this door, there's a long fall, but lots of plants to cushion your fall. You don't really fall that fast, either—something slows you down," Link explained.

They went through the door and the fall without incident, but they came to the room with two platforms, spread far apart.

"I don't really know how to get past here. I was a Deku before, and used the flower," Link admitted.

"We'll make a bridge, like we did to Ganon's castle," Rauru suggested. The Sages did just that, and they walked across without any problems.

The inside of the clock tower looked different without the Happy Mask Shop owner. But Link and the Sages walked through, and into south Clock Town. It looked pretty much the same, though the people were different. And the moon wasn't visible at all, Link noticed with relief.

"We should probably get rooms at the inn. How long do you think we'll be staying?" Link asked.

Zelda replied with, "Until we find enough people to drive the Odentians out."

"What about Ganon's forces?" Ruto asked.

"Without a leader, the Odentians will crush them." Link answered.

They walked into the inn. Anju wasn't at the desk. Instead, it was someone who looked pretty much like Anju, but was younger than Anju had been seven years ago.

They booked three rooms—two had two beds, one had four. Luckily Zelda and Impa had brought money, but it wasn't enough to cover more than a few days. Some of them would have to get some kind of job.

Link decided to try something, though. He walked over to west Clock Town, and to the small bank.

"Would you still have an account that was last used about seven years ago?" Link asked.

"I might. Excuse me…" The banker stood up, and looked for Link's invisible mark. "Ah, yes, Link. You have five thousand and twenty three rupees in your account. You're lucky that that money doesn't get donated to charity for another three years."

"Okay then. Can I have it all?"

"Wow! If you spend it like that… Besides, you can't even hold five thousand rupees."

Link shrugged. "Would it be all right if I let some other people use my account too, then?"

"I guess. Can you bring them here?"

Link did, and the account was split so that any of the Sages could use it. Because the attack had been at four thirty, it was still only eight in the morning. But Link had a quick breakfast and collapsed on his bed.

Link awoke around one. He had a fast lunch, told Zelda what he was doing, and went to the owl statue in south Clock Town. Good, it still had its wings open.

A quick song and a short walk later, Link was at the bay. He looked out, and saw that it wasn't murky any more. That was good.

Link walked over to the small grave he had made for a Zora named Mikau. Using the Song of Healing the Happy Mask Shop owner had taught him, he had gotten a magical mask with the ability to turn its wearer into Mikau himself. This mask had saved Link's life, in addition to countless others who lived in the Terminian world.

Link felt a surge of anger. This mask had been either destroyed or stolen. Mikau had been dishonored.

Link used the Song of Soaring to go to another place, the mountain village on Snowhead. It was spring, so Link simply went up the long tunnel-path to the top of a cliff—and Darmani's grave. Link waded in through the water from the hot spring, and up to Darmani's tombstone.

Link had also gotten a mask using the Song of Healing from Darmani's troubled soul. It had also saved countless lives. But it, too, had been stolen or destroyed.

"Don't worry," Link whispered. "I'll get revenge."

****


	5. Four

****

Chapter IV

While Link was paying his respects to Darmani and Mikau, the Sages had gone about hiring an army. The Clock Town soldiers had refused to help, saying that their duty in Termina came first, and the Zora did as well. The Gorons had too; but they had offered advice.

It seemed there was another dimensional gate in Termina. It was located in Snowhead, near the Goron Racetrack. There was a concealed trapdoor next to the entrance. This lead to a place called Gyrdia, a land with a large amount of warriors. Very, very skilled warriors. Gyrdia also held highly skilled sorcerers, ones that could fight, or assist those fighting. Many Gyrdians would offer their services—for a price. A very high one, if you wanted a decent-sized fighting force. The Gorons had hired ten of them three years ago—it cost them five hundred thousand rupees. And those had been warriors—sorcerers were more expensive.

But it was a solution. An expensive one—but Hyrule was worth two million rupees to them.

The thing was, no one had that kind of money.

When Link heard the price, he swore. "How can we get that kind of money?!"

"I managed to convince the Mayor to lend us five thousand rupees. So we have ten thousand, minus living expenses. The Gorons, Deku, and Zora refused to lend us anything. We'll need jobs, of course."

"How can eight people with cheap jobs raise a million and nine-hundred ninety thousand rupees? It would take about a hundred years!"

At this, Zelda just shook her head and said, "I know."

Link walked from the bomb shop, where they refused to hire him, to the lottery, where he got the same. The Curiosity Shop had Rauru, and Darunia was already working at the Trading Post.

There were no jobs in south or north Clock Town, and every job in east had been taken: Zelda was now Mayor D'Tour's assistant, Saria was in the inn, and Naburoo worked in the archery range. Impa was a soldier, and Ruto worked for the fisherman in Great Bay.

Link ended up going to Romani Ranch, asking for a job.

"Are you—you're the fairy boy! Grasshopper!"

"Uh, yeah, I am." Link felt kind of weird talking to her…

"So, did you want something?"

Link tried to shrug it off. "Yeah, I kind of need a job."

Romani giggled. "Sure, I could use a hand around here. You know, with Cremia leaving and all."

"Cremia left?"

"Yeah, about three months ago. She just disappeared, her and all her stuff."

"Did you tell the police?"

"Yeah, but they couldn't find her." She shrugged. "Well, it's okay. But it's a lot of work."

"Okay. How much would you pay me?" Link asked.

They worked out the deal. To save a little money, so the Sages would have one less room to book (Saria got the employee's room), Link got the spare room in Romani Ranch. They were on their way.

It took them a full year to get a million rupees. A full year of working cheap jobs, living in either a room in the inn or in a ranch, and eating only the most basic meals (partly to save money, and partly because Romani was a horrible cook). A full year of nightmares about Hyrule; a full year of the worries that by the time they got back with force enough to drive out the Odentians, they would be too late.

After the year was up, they decided they should go to Gyrdia. There would be better jobs there—if there weren't, they could always come back to Termina.

The eight gathered around the trapdoor. They had found it after a minute of searching. Epona was with Romani—Link had come here the day before and decided it was too small for her.

Slowly, Link lowered himself into the hole. He fell.

Once he hit, he ran to the side. He didn't particularly want Zelda to fall on his head.

She landed softly on the bouncy moss, and stepped to the side. One by one, the Sages fell. Link wasn't watching, though. He looked around.

They seemed to be in a forest, but he could hear the noises of a large town nearby. The trees were normal, and so were the birds, and everything else he could see. Except for the fact that the trees were much taller, he might as well have been in the Lost Woods.

As Darunia fell, the last to come, they walked by unspoken agreement towards the noises of town. As they cleared the forest, Link saw that this was no town—it was a city. It stretched in every direction but backwards for a long way, and the buildings were tall, maybe five stories average.

They stopped a passing man, and asked him where they were. He stared for a second, but answered with, "Aidas."

"Which is…" Zelda prompted.

The man stared more, but said, "The capital of Gyrdia."

Ruto exclaimed, "Good! Do you know where we can hire a team of soldiers and sorcerers?"

The man stared even more, then turned.

"That's not the kind of thing you shout about like that!" Naburoo hissed.

Impa noticed that Ruto and Darunia seemed to be getting a lot of stares. Apparently there were no Gorons or Zora here, though there were some other races that no one seemed to recognize. There were tall, sleek aquatic people similar to the Zora, but were silverish and gleamed in the light. There were also a race of scaled people with wings—they were tall and sleek as well, but obviously designed for the air and not for water.

The group found an affordable hotel, checked in, and left. Everyone went there separate ways, to meet back at the hotel by nightfall.

Link set out immediately for the back alleys and dark pubs, to find out where he could hire a group of warriors. Naburoo took the same path.

Zelda and Impa tried to get the government's help. After telling their story, the government wanted proof—namely, the rest of their group. They were forced to wait for nightfall.

Darunia and Ruto went back to the hotel almost immediately, disgusted at the fact that they were unable to hold a conversation—everyone just stared at them.

Saria went looking for a job, but no one would hire her—they didn't believe she was older that twelve.

Rauru also set out for a job, and found one as a salesperson in a variety store.

The next morning, the group went back to the government. After being paid fifty thousand rupees, they decided to asses the threat in Hyrule with two of their best. One was an outstanding swordsman decent with magic and the bow named Blade. The other was one of the best sorcerers known to this or any world (as they said) named Phoenix. They said that in Gyrdia, people were named after their skills. His name was Phoenix because he was actually able to become one at will—an extremely rare and useful gift.

Blade and Phoenix met the group half an hour later. Blade had a golden scabbard on his back, and a golden quiver next to that, but crossing it—so he would need to use his left hand to draw his sword, his right to get an arrow. Noticing him looking, Blade said he was ambidextrous. On top of the sword and quiver was a golden shield that looked like it could reflect light. Blade seemed about Link's age. He had blond hair and amber eyes, and was wearing a gold tunic. 

Phoenix, on the other hand, had flaming red hair, red eyes, and wore a red tunic. He was probably in his mid-twenties. He had some kind of thing, Link didn't know what it was called (though it was like a scabbard) for a quarterstaff on his back.

Link and the Sages filled Blade and Phoenix in on what had happened to Hyrule a year ago. Blade shook his head and Phoenix whistled.

"Odentians? Hey, General, we'll need Lightning and Snipe, even for scouting!" Blade called across the large room. The general sighed and called in Lightning and Snipe.

Lightning turned out to be one of the bird-people, black as Phoenix was red and Blade gold, and Snipe a silver fish-person. Link and the Sages found out that Lightning was "as fast as lightning," in addition to being able, on occasion, to actually control lightning. Snipe had "incredible accuracy" with a bow, as well as being excellent in martial arts.

The group filled Lightning and Snipe in on what had happened and their job, and agreed to meet, with all their gear, at the portal to Termina at dawn the next day.

Link spent the rest of the day looking around Aidas for ammo. He found a nice little weapons shop where he got bombs, bombchu, a bigger quiver and arrows to fill it, and—the thing he had been looking for so long but never found—a hookshot!

Link slept uneasily that night. He was having the nightmare again.

It was the one where Link was fighting the Odentians, and he had killed them all but one.

That one suddenly became Ruto. She rushed towards him, knocking his weapons out of his hands. She kissed him.

Then, suddenly, Ruto disappeared. Link found himself in a tank, as a Zora. He wasn't Mikau—some other Zora.

Link turned around and saw Ruto, sitting on a bunch of eggs. She got up and they hatched.

Out came seven little Zora babies. They swam towards him, but suddenly turned into Odentians, full-sized.

Link started swimming away, but found he couldn't. He wasn't a Zora anymore, he was a Kokiri. Saria.

The Odentians swam closer. Link, in Saria's body, couldn't swim nearly as fast as them. They caught up with him…

Link was suddenly in Darunia's body, fine somehow underwater. He watched the Odentians kill Saria, then come for him…

The scene repeated, him inhabiting each Sage's body in the order he had awakened them, with the exception of Rauru. When Link had gotten to Naburoo's body, he saw Rauru's floating nearby…

Link made it to Zelda's body. He couldn't swim away, couldn't do anything…

They came for Zelda.

Link woke up sweating. It was still dark out, but Link saw Darunia up, so he got up too.

"Bad dream?" Darunia asked quietly when Link neared him. Link just nodded.

Soon everyone was up. Link got all his weapons together, and led the way back to the portal.

By dawn, the group had reached the portal. Blade and the others were already there.

Link took out his hookshot, and shot it all the way to the top of the wall. This one had a long chain.

When he reached the top, Link used his momentum to force the trapdoor open and climbed up the edge. Then he used the unfolding ladder they had kept here to let the others up.

Once everyone was up, the eleven set off for Clock Town, with Link going a little further and leading back eleven horses.

Lightning looked insulted that he should be expected to _ride_ something. Phoenix did, also. Snipe said he appreciated the offer, but he wouldn't be able to ride it, as he was too big. Ruto said the same. Darunia told Link he'd probably crush the poor thing. Blade admitted that every time he tried to ride a horse, he fell flat on his face.

"Does anyone actually want the horse?"

No one said yes.

Blade told Link that Odentians loved to fight enemies on horseback because they were so much easier to kill.

Feeling rather stupid, Link walked back the horses. He then led the way back to Hyrule.


	6. Five

BOOK THREE

book three 

**irony**

            Chapter V 

As the group entered the Lost Woods, Blade told the Sages to wait in the first room of the gate. After a minute of persuasion ("There's nothing you can do, you'd be in danger for no reason, you might get hurt or even killed") they did.

Phoenix did something extraordinary. He became a phoenix.

This wasn't anything like Link's transformation to dragon. This was a smooth transition, and it affected every part of Phoenix's body at once. His tunic didn't shred, either—it just sort of became Phoenix's feathers.

Phoenix was now a large bird, with something like a six-foot wingspan, maybe two feet long. His feathers were a dull red. He was magnificent, but Link was sure he was even more magnificent in combat.

Just then, something fell and landed silently behind him. The only reason Link knew he was there was because of the air hitting him.

Link spun on his heel and brought his sword up to parry the attack he knew was coming. Steel met claw, and steel won. The Odentian's right hand claws were gone.

Link brought his foot around, to kick the Odentian off his feet. He jumped and delivered a clawed slash with his feet to Link's chest area, but Link had turned his kick into a backflip. As he came around, he brought the Master Sword up and sliced a thin line from the warrior's left hip up to his heart. Link's backflip had stopped there, and he stabbed. The warrior fell to the ground. As Link turned around, he saw Blade nodding approval.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. But you could be better, and that one was a weakling."

Link shook his head, but stared as he saw Snipe whip out his bow and pierce an unsuspecting Odentian in the back of the head. These people _were _good.

It took about two hours, but the scouting proceeded without any more fighting. The five of them made their way back through the Lost Woods to the gate—

It wasn't there.

At first, they thought they had just made a wrong step. They retraced their way, trying three, four, five times. But it wasn't there.

They were trapped.

Even more, they wouldn't be able to hide for long. They would have to fight eventually.

Five on who knows how many.

They were dead.

It was Blade who noticed them first. While the other four were standing there in shock, he had noticed three Odentians sneaking up on them.

Blade knew, also, that these weren't the weaklings they had been fighting. These were elite fighters. These three were the real thing.

The three pulled out etinabols, strange sword-like weapons. One attacked Link, too far away for Blade to block. Link brought his sword up to do it himself, but the etinabol became flexible and wrapped around the sword. A sharp tug brought the Master Sword out of Link's hand and into a tree.

Lin didn't falter but drew another sword. This one was black, with some kind of design etched into it. Link stabbed with it, but the Odentian dodged and swept him off his feet.

Link landed hard, and lay stunned for a second. Blade rushed in to block the etinabol, but he was too late. Blade watched in horror as the etinabol claimed a life.

While the Odentian was distracted, Blade turned his failed block into an attack. His sword found its way into the Odentian's back. The warrior fell forward, onto Link's body.

Blade forced himself to drive away the images. Lightning, Phoenix, and Snipe dealt with the other two easily enough, but there was no rest—instantly, six more jumped from the trees.

It took several minutes for them to fall. There was only one left, but this one was good.

She ran for a second, to get back to the trees. Her path took her near Link's body—

And a sword.

The warrior ran straight into the sword, severing her at the knees. She fell forward, and went to meet her maker.

The dead Odentian body fell as Link stood. He seemed fine, like the last battle had never happened. The Gyrdians stared.

Link explained, quickly, about the Triforce of Courage and its healing properties, then retrieved his sword.

Blade still looked, though. Something was different about Link…

By the next morning, the five had decided there was no way to get back to Termina, and since there were no other dimensional gates known in Hyrule, they decided to go somewhere they could and not be in danger: another country.

Link told the Gyrdians that the area beyond Death Mountain held a small country called Acimera. As far as everyone present knew, the Odentians conquered one country at a time, then settled it. They didn't conquer another country until they needed to, for living space. No one thought they could fill Hyrule to overcrowding in a year, and this seemed like their first entrance into Hyrule's world.

So, of course, they set out for Acimera. And they were right—there would be no Odentians.

But there would be something worse.


	7. Six

CHAPTER VI

**Chapter VI**

The five made it to Death Mountain—and past—without anything special happening. Once they got out of Hyrule, Link didn't really know the way, but they made it to Danack, the capital of Acimera. The people there were mostly Gorons, with some Hylians, but not enough to have been conquered by the Odentians.

As the five walked towards the governmental center (after being directed by citizens), the sky turned black.

The five instantly looked up to see something gigantic blotting out the sun. Tiny things were falling from it.

When the things hit the ground (or anything hard) they spread some kind of green liquid over the surrounding area. Link stared as a tower collapsed from just two capsules.

"It's acid!" Phoenix shouted. "Lightning, _don't_ hit any with lightning. Just stay here, I might be able to make a barrier!"

Phoenix held up his quarterstaff. The air around it seemed to shimmer…

Acting on impulse, Link ripped off his left gauntlet and pressed the center of the Triforce symbol on the bottom of the quarterstaff. At the same time, Lightning channeled electricity from his fingertips to the staff.

Several things happened at once. Link was in undescribable agony from the electricity—the Triforce couldn't help him, it was putting all its power into the staff.

At the same time, the staff was lifting into the air, Link along with it. Phoenix had let go of the staff, but Lightning still shot his hand-held lightning. Link felt like his arm would fall off, it dragging him first ten, twenty, thirty feet off the ground. He kept on raising.

A huge golden barrier covered the city. As capsules fell towards it, they were hit by lightning, then fire, from the barrier. The acid that fell off was absorbed by the golden dome.

It took about a minute for that huge black thing to get the idea and stop dropping the capsules. The last one hit directly above the staff.

The whole barrier came back in to the center. A huge ray of gold shot out at the black thing. The beam ripped through it, incinerating every last bit.

Then Link saw a lot of gold light and blacked out.

Link woke up to see white.

__

Am I dead?

Link got no response.

"Am I dead?" he asked aloud.

"No, you're not. You're very alive." Link heard Blade's voice say. "You saved the city. Everyone here is willing to do just about anything for you."

Realizing he was lying down, Link sat up. He was in a small room. In a corner was a chair that Blade was sitting on. Link saw a closed book lying next to him.

"Can they send their military to Hyrule?"

Blade laughed. "They would, but it would be suicide. Not even kamikaze. Suicide.

"While you were sleeping, I checked out their military. We used wooden swords and pointless arrows, stuff like that. It took a hundred of them to even get an arrow to hit me at all. And I'm not as good as the Odentian elites."

Link sighed. "Any chance of getting some decent military help here?"

"Yeah. They make great bows, just don't know how to use them. Snipe and I got one already. You should, too."

Link nodded, and tried to stand up, but found he couldn't. He collapsed onto the bed again.

"Save your strength," Blade advised. "Guess the Triforce can't fix exhaustion."

"It usually can," Link said. "Guess not after it got used so much."

Blade nodded and picked up his book. Link got a glance at its title:

Symptoms of Sickness From Magical Artifacts.

Link snapped up.

"Why are you reading that?!" Link demanded.

Blade looked innocent. "What?"

"That!"

"Oh, this. No reason."

"Really. Is something wrong with me?"

Blade looked at him, straight in the eye. "I swear, I have no reason to believe anything is wrong with you."

"Then why are you reading that?!"

"Well, you see," Blade looked around nervously, "it's Snipe. I think that when the Triforce shot out it's healing thing—"

"Huh?"

"Oh, you didn't know. After that sky-thing got blasted, gold light went everywhere and everyone got healed. The buildings got fixed, too."

"Oh."

"But Snipe got kind of, well, messed up."

"How?" Link asked.

"He's acting different, like he's suddenly not out for money and to help people, but for glory and the thrill of it."

Link shook his head, saying he didn't know, and went to sleep.

When he woke up, he did know.

The eight figures made their way slowly down the river, liquid within liquid. Every thirty seconds or so, another came, seemingly from nowhere.

By the time the group made their way to Lake Hylia, they numbered forty-seven. The forty-seven flowing creatures slipped their way through the cracks in the door. 

They began.

Diurdom watched in approval. His new country was doing well.

Everyone thought of the Odentians as conquerors without reason, people born simply to take other lands. But it wasn't true, really.

The Odentians were the only ones fit to exist in the universe. Everyone else was scum, not even fit for the bottom of an Odentian foot.

Odentia itself was a tiny country in an alternate universe. It was much too small for the Odentians. They were far worthier than that.

It took place quickly, their ascent to power. For a long time, the Odentians were fine in Odentia. They worshipped their gods, especially the ones of trickery and war. Those two deserved the best the Odentians could give. For a time, that was a sacred mask with magic power. But that was not enough.

The gods needed sacrifice. Not just of animals, but of people, and even land.

Yes, that was why they conquered. They lived in one country for a time. Then they moved on, and it was destroyed in the gods' utter wrath.

Rasoginim was not so approving, however.

His airship, his pride and glory, had been destroyed. With it, he could have conquered Acimera. Acimera was one step closer to Hyrule. And Hyrule one step closer to the Triforce.

But his airship was gone. He knew it had been destroyed by powerful magic. The Triforce could have duplicated any one part of that barrier—but not the whole thing. There had to be some other magic involved.

Rasoginim might be able to negate the Triforce's power. He did, after all, have the most powerful of all dark magic on his side.

But if there was more to it, other magic…

Well, he would just need some time. With time, Rasoginim could do anything. He was sure of that.

Gorin Zachian's magic blade flashed. Thalalok, his sword, had been stolen from a dragon, but not by him. It was inherited from his father, who had been died eight months ago from poison. Gorin, though, couldn't have revenge. The criminal had killed himself, probably suicide, maybe an accident. He had been found slumped over, dead, the same magic toxins in his body as found in Gorin's father.

Gorin put Thalalok down as his opponent scored a hit on his shoulder. He had lost yet another match of fencing. Even with a magic blade, Gorin found it almost impossible to win.

"One more time?" His opponent asked. Gorin nodded.

His fury at being a failure, not worthy of Thalalok, not worthy of being his father's son, not worthy of being alive, seemed to channel through his left arm and hand, into Thalalok. The dull silver glowed a deep green. Thalalok moved faster now, almost acting on its own. The blade was parrying perfectly, waiting for the perfect chance—

Now.

Thalalok leaped forward. The opponent stared. Gorin had been told this person never lost a match.

Gorin's smile was interrupted by a searing pain on his left hand. He managed to rip off his gauntlet—

Imprinted on his hand, a triangle formed of four triangles, one of them upside down in the center, burned. Two, the top and lower left, were a brilliant gold.


	8. 

CHAPTER VII ****

Chapter VII

Link explained to Blade, as quickly as he could, what he knew of what happened to Snipe.

The healing light thing had been energy of pure good. When something so powerful touched (at such close range) someone whose heart was not entirely pure, some good of what they had was taken. Link had read this in Hyrule.

The way to fix this was another blast of pure good. Link didn't really know how to get this, except to mortally wound himself while touching Snipe. And Link didn't know if the Triforce of Courage had enough energy yet to heal himself, and he knew it wouldn't work if he knew he was about to be healed anyway.

They would have to be content with Snipe as he was now, then, at least for the time.

But that could be harder than they thought…

Gorin stared at the symbol. He had never something like it before, in Zyriach. It did seem familiar, though.

His fencing opponent stared as well. "Go see Ninel. She knows about this kind of thing." Gorin nodded, sheathed Thalalok, and walked towards the house in which Ninel, the sorcerer and doctor, lived.

The sound from the brass knocker vibrated Gorin's flesh, as it always had. But his left hand seemed unaffected.

Ninel opened the door. She was a half-dragon, like so many other people in Zyriach, Gorin included. Her scales were a brilliant red, such a contrast to Gorin's own silver. Her wings were too small and shriveled for flying, however. Gorin's were large enough.

Ninel greeted him, and asked what his problem was. He held out his hand.

She gasped, but told him she had no idea what it was.

Rasoginim laughed. He had thought that the magic assisting the Triforce would be too much. How could it, when two of the parts of the Triforce itself weren't even in this universe!

The black sphere floated in front of him. This, the ultimate force of the dark, could easily overpower all that magic. And now that there were only two wielders of the Triforce, it would be even easier.

Black as midnight, the Darksphere floated.

The forty-seven left the Water Temple quickly enough. They swam to the edge of the lake, and walked out.

Once out of water, you could see that they were not truly liquid at all, but some kind of magical substance, flowing like a liquid but solid enough to stand.

The forty-seven Najibreza headed to the desert. They knew of the Odentians. That was why they were here.

The Darksphere (_what an unoriginal name_, Rasoginim thought) still floated. It, however, was becoming even darker. Soon the room was pitch-black. The Darksphere even absorbed light.

The dark was expended, though, and the room was light again. The Darksphere still floated.

A flash of evil spread over Acimera. It was only seconds before it reached Aidas. The city was black in a second.

In only an instant, though, a golden sphere shot out. It lit the building Link was in, but no more.

Slowly, the sphere collapsed in on itself. The dark was slowly overwhelming the light.

The sphere had been pushed in so far, it only contained an area about five feet past Link's hand. Link had curled up so it contained all of him. Blade and Phoenix were close enough, as well. Snipe and Lightning hadn't been in the same room.

The gold sphere collapsed. As it did, though, Link, Blade, and Phoenix vanished.

Gorin walked out of Ninel's house. She hadn't been able to help.

As Gorin walked down the street, not really paying attention to where he was going, he tripped.

Gorin fell forward, but broke his fall with his hands. He stood up immediately, and looked at what he had tripped over.

Three people lay sprawled on the ground, probably unconscious. As Gorin asked them if they were all right, he decided they were definitely so.

Gorin tried to wake them up. The one in green woke first.

"Where am I?" He asked in a far away sort of voice. His eyes widened, though, as he saw Gorin. "What the heck are you?"

Slightly offended, he replied, "A half-dragon. My name is Gorin Zachian."

The person stared still. "I'm Link. Where am I?"

Gorin stared for a second. How could he not know where he was? Well, maybe he had amnesia. "You're in Notilck."

"And where is Notilck?"

Definitely amnesia. "It's the third-largest city in Zyriach."

More staring. What was with this guy?

"Where's Zyriach?"

Amnesia, for sure. How could he not know the name of his own country?

"It borders Brokodia and Fasnor, and is across the Sea of Life from Gyrdia."

"Oh! I know where Gyrdia is."

Gorin rolled his eyes, but woke the amnesiac Link's companions.

The one dressed in gold jumped to his feet as he was woken, cursing and drawing his sword when he saw Gorin.

"A half-dragon! Link, don't trust it!"

The red one woke from the gold one's shout. "Blade, what's—a half-dragon!"

Red leaped to his feet and drew a quarterstaff hastily.

"What's wrong?" Link asked, confused.

"Gyrdians?" Gorin asked, knowing the answer.

"We're in Zyriach, aren't we." Blade observed dryly.

"What do you have against him? You've never met!" Link exclaimed.

"Not him, but others. All his kind are alike." Red said.

"Phoenix, how do you know?! I don't think all Gyrdians are little…" His voice trailed off, seeing the look in Blade's eyes. "Overexpensive people just because my first offer was for one warrior and one sorcerer, and it would have cost me eight million rupees."

Phoenix looked at Link. "You don't know what they've done."

"But how do you know he's done anything?"

Blade replied with, "He probably hasn't done anything. And we'll make sure he doesn't!"

Blade's sword flashed.

The Najibreza moved quickly over the sand. Their flowing forms had easily defeated the forty or so Odentians, though they had lost three of their number in the battle.

The Najibreza headed to the Spirit Temple to complete the requests of their fallen master, Ganondorf. They already had two of the six medallions. It would be only a short time before Ganondorf would live to see their perfection.

Rasoginim had conquered Acimera easily enough. Now that the bearers of the Triforce were gone from this dimension, he could conquer Hyrule easily enough. The Odentians had such puny magic.

It would only be a short time before he could have the Triforce, invoking the summoning magic from the Sacred Realm. And with the Darksphere, he could corrupt the power of the Triforce. With all that power, he could rule every universe there was a gate to. Everyone would bow to him…

Diurdom frowned. His scouts had brought word of the fluid warriors who had so easily defeated his forces in the valley. And four of the forty had been elite…

These warriors must be defeated. Half the Odentians in the country should do it, though with heavy losses. With more, the losses would be heavier—his scouts had reported that these warriors did better when fighting a group.

Well, his country would survive. If not, the remainder could flee—the gods were hungry. Being distantly related to the gods (a well-proven fact), he could tell when the gods demanded sacrifice.

These fluid warriors would die, along with their country.


	9. 

**Chapter VIII**

Thalalok parried the attack perfectly. Blade's sword slid off Thalalok, which went out to block the next attack.

Gorin's strong leg came up and snapped out. Blade's sword was too slow to block. Blade tried jumping backward, but fell on his back.

Before anyone could do anything, Link screamed at them.

"What are you doing?! You only met a minute ago, and you're already fighting!"

Gorin put his foot down and Thalalok away. Blade stood, but sheathed his sword. Phoenix (somewhat reluctantly) put away his sword.

The fight had drawn watchers from the crowd. Some seemed disappointed when the three put away their weapons, but a few seemed relieved.

"Now," said Link, "we first have to find out how we got here."

The Najibreza, which now numbered forty, returned from their latest and greatest (so far) accomplishment. They had obtained both the shadow and fire medallions. Those were the last two.

The process of summoning their master, though, would require massive sacrifice on their part. Thirty-eight of them, to be exact. Even with their master at full power, he would need help conquering. Two Najibreza, though powerful, weren't enough.

The thing was, they could regenerate their numbers. One swim in the magical water of the Zora River, and they might be able to obtain thirty more.

The forty decided on it. Thirty-two would conquer so much more easily than two…

Diurdom's forces assembled. Those warriors must not be allowed to return to the river. His strategists told him that was probably how they increased their numbers and regenerated.

All of them, an even five hundred thousand, were assembled, forming a living barricade winding around the river. There could be no way the warriors could get through to the river without passing through them. Plus, the very nature of the line was that word could get by swiftly, so once the warriors were sighted they could be surrounded. At a distance, of course. He didn't want too many losses, and they were reported to do better when facing groups.

Off in the distance, a mass of flowing blue was sighted.

The Najibreza saw the barricade. Immediately, they formed together. The Odentians had no idea of their true fighting power.

Rasoginim prepared immediately. The Darksphere told him of the turmoil in Hyrule. He would use it to his advantage.

His new airship was readied. He could been in Hyrule in less than five minutes.

The Odentians prepared, some drawing etinabols, some sprouting claws.

The mass of blue rushed forward. 

A massive, well, thing darkened the sky. It blotted out the sun, something seemingly appropriate for a battle between evils.

Odentians and Najibreza alike stared at the sky-thing. It was huge.

Suddenly, everything seemed a lot darker. The sky-thing was shining off darkness, in addition to blotting out the sun.

Some Najibreza took advantage of that, as they possessed darkvision, and knew the Odentians did not. In a minute or so, almost a hundred of the Odentians died. Their death was instant, as well, so the others were unaware.

But in a second, more than darkness was emanating from the shape. Death was as well.

Rasoginim laughed. It was so easy to kill these people. It took only thirty seconds before everyone in Hyrule had dropped suddenly dead. They had no magical resistance about them at all.

The Darksphere was being overtaxed, slightly. But it would only be two hours or so before it was returned to full power. And he only needed it for one more task.

Ninel knew nothing of dimensional transportation. But she did ask if Gorin knew anything more about the mark on his hand.

"What mark?" Link asked, curious.

Gorin showed him.

Immediately, Link ripped off his left gauntlet. He put his hand near Gorin's.

"They're the same," he exclaimed, wondrous. "But you have Power and Wisdom."

"What do you mean?" Gorin asked.

Link explained quickly about the Triforce and its parts. "Ganondorf, the one who had Power, is dead. So I guess it would go to someone, though it is kind of weird that it went to a Zyriachan and not a Hylian. But Zelda had Wisdom…" He shuddered. "My dream—it was true—when the gate…" His voice trailed off.

"I guess it would go to you because at that time, the only Hylians alive were the Sages and me… But did you get that symbol all at once, or did you get the same one but only the top was gold first?" 

"I got it all at once," Gorin replied.

"I don't know then. But—"

Link's voice was cut off. He doubled over in pain, clutching his left hand. Gorin did the same.

When the pain finally stopped, the Triforce symbol was gone.

"Something's happened," Link managed to gasp out. "Someone has the Triforce, the whole thing."

After a minute or so, the four left Ninel's house and headed to the militia center.

A quick explanation later, the four were joined by three half-dragons. The seven then set off for Gyrdia.

It took only a minute of Blade and Phoenix's explanations before the seven were joined by eight.

The fifteen then headed for Gyrdia's training center.

Blade was teaching Link and Gorin some sword moves, while a few of the Zyriachans were teaching some of the Gyrdians the basics of unarmed combat. Phoenix, some of the Gyrdian sorcerers, and some of the Zyriachan sorcerers were teaching each other magic spells.

Blade decided that Link and Gorin had graduated to sparring. He called it sparring and not fencing because he encouraged both of them to use other kinds of attacks, not just swords.

Gorin started out with a quick front kick, which Link backflipped. Link brought his sword up in the same fashion he had with that Odentian, but Gorin was too smart. He jumped back.

Link didn't halt for a second, but instantly drew his bow and took out an arrow. He aimed and shot…

Gorin had jumped to the side. Link didn't try the bow again, but put it away. Before Gorin and Blade found out what link was about to do, a deafening boom and a blinding flash stopped the combat.

When Link recovered his sight and hearing, he saw a Gyrdian standing near the entrance to the training ground.

"You're needed, right now. The Assassi Nation is invading!"


	10. Nine

BOOK FOUR

**BOOK FOUR**

**CONQUEST******

**Chapter IV**

The Darksphere floated, reveling in the death and destruction it had caused. Rasoginim was so pleased with himself, he allowed himself a moment of self-admiration and memory.

_The Darksphere had been in the old temple in the woods, Rasoginim had been told. He had grown up reading about its glory, its power, its perfection. The secret books had, of course, been hidden from the paladins of his town._

_He had heard the rumor through secret channels, the magical communications link of evil. The paladins were supposed to go out to destroy the Darksphere the next morning. That left several hours to go get it for himself._

_Rasoginim, using his old sword, had made his way to the temple. Getting the Darksphere had been easy, as the temple was abandoned. Or so it seemed._

_There were several guardians, but the morons waited until after Rasoginim had taken the Darksphere._

_The six jumped him as he was leaving the temple. He shot out a wave of instant death, but one of the guardians somehow reflected it—_

_The Darksphere couldn't destroy its wielder, but the wave of death had done close to it. Rasoginim had been banished to the space between dimensions…_

_It had taken him a long time, but he made his way out. And to the Triforce that had been mentioned so often in his reading…_

The Assassi Nation warriors were legendary fighters and assassins. Their country had been named after the assassins of old, warriors usually neutral in any conflict and not all that aggressive—until paid, or had some other reason.

Then they were death itself, embodied into five thousand Assassi, a race of their own.

Assassi were fast, strong, and cunning. Their scales camouflaged themselves, taking in the colors of the objects behind them. Their wings could propel them at high speeds, and having blades along the tips of those wings didn't exactly hurt their combat ability. An arm attached to each wing, but could come off at any time. These arms usually held daggers, dart guns, or shuriken, with an occasional bow. Every one of them was poisoned, of course. Their legs ended in talons rather than feet, which helped fight as well.

When united, the Assassi were practically unstoppable.

With Rasoginim and his magic to drive them, the weren't just _practically _unstoppable.

Link was told most of this on the way to the southern coast, next to the Great Southern Ocean, which spanned nearly half the globe. The Assassi had come by air, and had utterly destroyed the southern cities and towns. At least, that was what had been expected. Only one witness made it out, and he had been too far away to see anything but the color-shifting cloud of Assassi.

Link sawit. But he saw more than the barely-visible streak of blue. He saw pure evil.

And he saw his death.

Narroc Ts'roh told his forces to attack. Eight horses, four half-dragons low in the air, a phoenix, and two humanoids on foot could hardly go unnoticed, at least to the razor-sharp vision of the Assassi. Eight Assassi surged forward, their various weapons at the ready.

Twelve shuriken, tiny and sharp thrown projectiles, found their new home—a half-dragon.

Literally. Shuriken, at least the Assassi version, were able to magically travel to a victim's brain, and (if their magic overpowers their victim's brainpower) take control of the subject.

The half-dragon—Hu Li was his name—dove down, swooping on Link. Unsuspecting, the half-dragon sunk his sword into Link's back, emerging through Link's chest on the other side.

Without the Triforce of Courage, Link couldn't heal himself. It took only a second before he fell off his horse.

Dead.

Blade was the first to respond to Link's death. For an instant, he just stopped walking and stared. That was, until the half-dragon turned on him.

The traitor—or was he being controlled? Blade didn't have time to wonder—turned to him. He started running towards Blade, his wings almost useless for such short distances.

Combat reflexes kicked in, and Blade instantly pulled out his bow and snapped off a shot, an expert between the eyes. Snipe could have done better, Blade knew, but Snipe was dead.

Eight almost-invisible shapes swooped down. Blade saw two more half-dragons (one of them Gorin, Blade knew) fall, from what he couldn't tell. An arrow—at least that was visible and identifiable) got one of the Gyrdians on horseback.

It was a short battle, the Gyrdians and half-dragons unable to see their enemies. After a matter of minutes, only Phoenix remained.

Getting a sudden idea, Phoenix dipped, dived, and swirled his way to the mass of Assassi. There was no way he could escape, so why bother trying?

Remarkably, Phoenix managed his way to the color-shifting blob. Having no idea what he was doing, Phoenix tensed his muscles, very strongly.

He saw red. Not red from blood, or anything like that. The red of a rapidly expanding ball of fire.

The Assassi were killed nearly instantly, not so much from the fire itself as from the heat.

But, the Assassi force here was not all of them. A thousand more waited near the coast. In less than two day's time, they would take over the job of conquest.

On the ground lay a gently burning body, the body of a phoenix. The gentle flames burst into a huge blast, and the body was incinerated.

A small red body made its way out of the ashes. There is one vital fact that should never be forgotten, at least by evil.

A phoenix is reborn from its ashes.


	11. Ten

**Chapter X**

Phoenix stumbled while he walked. His body was tiny now, and demanded food—but he had none to give.

He had tried becoming Gyrdian again, but it didn't work Probably it had something to do with dying.

The tiny phoenix body was desperate. Newborns needed food quickly.

Summoning up the last of his strength, Phoenix used a bit of magic he had never properly learned. It took a second, but a large—and flaming—worm appeared on the ground. Thankfully, Phoenix ate it quickly. The phoenix absorbed the energy pretty quickly. Phoenix set off walking. It was miles to the nearest town.

Rasoginim's airship flew forward, slowly but steadily. The Assassi had eliminated everything for a mile or so ahead of him. He was bringing up the rear.

The Darksphere and the Triforce floated side by side. The Triforce was no longer gold, but as midnight black as the Darksphere.

Tatl searched, but her friend was nowhere to be found. Tael and the Skull Kid were looking as well, but nothing showed up.

She rushed back to the portal. She could go through this one herself—there were no doors in this one, just a long underwater cave. She emerged in Great Bay, and rushed to the Great Fairy of Magic in Clock Town.

Tatl explained, quickly. The Great Fairy disappeared for a second. When she came back, she had a solution.

Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, was roused quickly. The boy who had rescued her, those years ago, had been killed and his homeland destroyed? Well, there surely had to be something she could do about that. Her friends Din and Farore should be able to help, too.

The Great Fairy of Power called Odolwa. The tune echoed over the swamp, and he came.

After being told quickly what had happened, he used a combination of the Great Fairy's magic and his own to make his way to Gyrdia. When he appeared, Goht, Gyorg, and Twinmold were beside him.

Phoenix, gratefully, gobbled up the worm. He was energized instantly.

The person who had fed him was a girl, a little younger than he had been. She had flaming red hair—not actually on fire, Phoenix thought regretfully. _Well, I could fix that._

The girl then spoke. "Hi. I'm Din."

There they were. The nearly invisible mass of Assassi was very visible to the sight of a guardian.

Thirty seconds and some magic later, the Assassi invasion force was gone.

Farore searched frantically through her memory. She knew something that could help, she knew it, she knew it…

It had taken hours. But she knew it…

She knew it!

Din was explaining everything to Phoenix. He couldn't talk, but Din knew he could understand her.

Another person ran up. She talked frantically in some strange language for a minute. Din turned to him.

"There's a way you can help. We can bring back Link and Blade. The thing is, it needs a life. The life of a phoenix."

There was silence.

"You won't be reborn. Will you do it?"

Phoenix nodded.

The three Oracles made a triangle around Phoenix, the guardians a square around them. Farore was chanting.

A bolt of lightning shot from the clouds above. Phoenix felt nothing. His body was incinerated, and the ashes separated into two piles.

One pile of ashes slowly turned gold. They formed the shape of a body. A flash of lightning, and Blade appeared. He huddled up, hugging his legs. He had nothing with him—his sword, bow, clothes, they weren't there. Well, they could fix that.

The other pile of ashes slowly changed color, to a sort of greenish gold.

Suddenly, a bird swooped down. The ashes were spread. The wind picked up, and they blew away.

Link couldn't be revived.

After a second of curses, Nayru ran off. She returned in a few minutes with some clothes for Blade. She'd let him pick out his weapons.

Farore cursed continually, while Din tried to calm her. Nayru tried to explain what had happened to Blade.

Farore's head shot up, and she stopped cursing.

"It was someone very, very evil that did this. He controls the fabled Darksphere, and has corrupted the power of the Triforce."

Blade said, "Follow me. I have a friend we need to talk to."

After almost two hours of walking, Blade stopped. They were deep into a forest. He felt around on the trunk of a huge oak tree, and then pushed. A door opened in the trunk.

Blade walked in through it, and motioned for the Oracles to follow him. The guardians had left, saying that they would come when they were needed.

The four walked down a staircase, and went along a long tunnel. When it broke the surface, they appeared in a garden, surrounded by stone walls.

"Why the—"

"Hello, Blade. I didn't come when you needed me to because I can't without invitation. It is the law. You know that." A tall person answered Blade calmly. He had jade green skin and eyes, and jet-black hair.

"I don't give a—"

"Blade, if you invite me now, I can come."

"Okay. I want you to help," Blade replied.

"That's better. Who are those three?"

"These are the Oracles. That's Din, the Oracle of Seasons; Nayru, the Oracle of Ages; and Farore, the Oracle of Secrets."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Hakiej."

"I need to get to your item stash," Blade said.

"Very well." Hakiej replied. He opened a door they hadn't noticed before, and Blade walked in.

The room was huge, and every inch of wall had a shelf on it. The shelves were covered in weapons, musical instruments, potions, and nearly everything else imaginable.

Blade walked down the room. He took a gleaming crystal sword and a scabbard. Farther along, he chose a beautiful bow, and a large golden quiver. A small but obviously magical horn came next. Finally, he took a small vial of potion off a shelf. He drank it, and replaced the vial. It was refilled instantly.

He walked towards the door, but something caught his eye. A scroll.

"Hakiej, I need to read this. Give the Oracles something, I'm going to the other end of the garden."

The Oracles looked around, but didn't find anything. After a few minutes, Blade returned and handed the scroll back to Hakiej.

"Ah, this one. I thought you would want it." Blade merely nodded.

"We should leave in the morning. Hakiej, I think Farore and I will be using the library this afternoon." Farore nodded.

"Very well then. Here is the key." Hakiej handed Blade a large, old-fashioned key.

Farore and Blade retreated into Hakiej's large library. When they returned, late at night, they had a rushed and excited conversation with the three others. They slept, but were gone before morning.

Rasoginim cursed, for the trillionth time. The Assassi were dead, except for his personal guards. Link was dead and permanently gone, but the Oracles had managed to get Blade back. And Blade…

Well, he might be able to fix that. But…

Farore, Din, and Nayru had gone back in time, about six thousand years. They were trying to stop Rasoginim from getting the Darksphere, or kill him if necessary. If they didn't do it, though, Blade and Hakiej were ready to kill Rasoginim in the future.

The Oracles appeared in a small town. They asked a man walking by where the man named Rasoginim lived.

"Oh, Rasoginim lives over there, in that house," the man told them, pointing.

"Thank you," Din said.

The Oracles went over there. If their information had been correct, this was the day Rasoginim would get the Darksphere.

They asked at his house for him, but his family said he had gone missing.

They thanked him, went out of sight, and traveled back in time.

The Oracles asked again where Rasoginim lived. Rasoginim had been named after his father.

They went to the house, and he answered the door. Quickly and silently, Farore stabbed the man with a magical dagger. The Oracles then left for the future.

Six thousand years before Link's birth, a man named Leifrad had led the colonization of Hyrule, Lybranna, Holodrum, Acimera, and the lands nearby. The descendants of the colonists had then settled Termina, Gyrdia, Zyriach, Brokodia, Fasnor, and the other nearby lands. Soon after Leifrad and his colonists had crossed the dimensional gate to Holodrum, the gate had closed.

Leifrad was Rasoginim's younger brother.

Their father had been killed early enough that Rasoginim was never born.

That meant Leifrad was never born.

Because Leifrad was never born, Hyrule, Gyrdia, Holodrum, and Lybranna had never been colonized.

Because they were never colonized, Link, Blade, Phoenix, and the Oracles were never born.

Because they were never born, they had never been able to stop Rasoginim from being born.

It was a paradox. The laws of the universe didn't allow the Oracles to go back in time. When Nayru tried to go back in time, she couldn't.

Rasoginim had been born, and they couldn't stop it.


	12. Eleven

****

Chapter XI

"It didn't work. Let's go." Blade said. They were still there, after all. Hakiej nodded.

They made their way to Rasoginim's tower, located on the remains of Lon Lon Ranch. The trip was short, as they had been waiting by a dimensional gate at the edge of Gerudo Valley (found in Hakiej's library). The tower was huge and midnight black, standing out against the clear blue of the morning sky.

The door was large and wooden, standing up to Blade's best charges and even Hakiej's devastating jumping kicks. Hakiej, as Blade had known for years, was an outstanding unarmed fighter, but he didn't conform to any specific martial art.

Blade shrugged and remembered what he had learned from the scroll. He cupped his hands, fingertips pointing at the door. He called upon his magical energy.

A ball of fire formed in his hands. It grew rapidly, from about a fifth of an inch when it was formed to the three inches Blade let it be, before releasing.

"That's why you use an iron door, if you're concerned about security." Hakiej commented.

"It could be a trap," Blade replied. "We could walk in to have a hundred bombs dropped on our heads."

"Remember the potion," Hakiej reminded.

"Oh, yeah."

The fire streamed out beautifully, a huge flare erupting when it hit the door. The door burned slowly, releasing a foul stench while doing so. But finally, the door burnt down and only ashes remained.

The duo stepped through, Blade leading. They went up a long set of stairs, coming to a wooden door that this time, wasn't locked.

The two Stalfos guards brought their swords down in powerful swings, onto the heads of the intruders.

Blade used his sword to parry the blow. Hakiej sidestepped the attack, tripping his opponent and following through with a quick flurry of punches. The bones shattered.

Blade brought the sword from his parry into an attack, and separated a skull from bony shoulders.

Blade grinned at Hakiej, who smiled back. Rasoginim had to have better guards, but—

The smile stopped as a huge blast of flame shot at them. Hakiej jumped over it, while Blade did a quick backflip. Both were unharmed.

They turned to see a big, green-scaled creature looking at them.

"A Dodongo," Hakiej breathed. "I've never seen one before."

Blade smiled, and released a puff of flame, not charged at all, at the Dodongo. The tiny ball expanded into a full-grown fireball, and the Dodongo was gone.

"Not bad," Hakiej commented, while the two headed up yet more stairs.

At the top, they came into a large room, probably as wide as the tower itself. Two figures stood at the opposite end. They had body-covering armor, and huge axes. The only difference was that one was a silvery-blue, and one midnight-black.

Hakiej whispered to Blade, "They're Iron Knuckles. It's pointless to shield against their ax, and fire is totally unaffecting to their armor. Use an arrow to wake one up—we'll go one at a time against these guys."

Blade nodded, and took out his bow. He made a carefully aimed shot—taking, of course, less than a second to aim—into the white Iron Knuckle's right eyeball.

It seemed unaffected by the eye shot, but started moving towards Blade. It hesitated, apparently sizing Blade and Hakiej up. It then continued toward Blade.

The Iron Knuckle lifted its axe, but Blade darted behind it and slashed with his crystal sword.

The crystal, on impact with the armor, visibly glowed a bright green. It took a moment, but the Iron Knuckle was apparently vaporized. His armor and weapons, at least. The person remained.

The man—_no_, Blade corrected himself, _he's a boy. Thirteen or fourteen, probably._ The boy raised his hands in surrender.

"Why are you fighting for Rasoginim?" Blade demanded.

"Who's Rasoginim? I'm defending Ganon, and this is Ganon's Tower. My father was killed defending him, so I got taken in his place."

Blade and Hakiej looked at each other. _Brainwash,_ said Hakiej's face plainly.

At last, Hakiej asked, "Who's the other Iron Knuckle?"

"A guy. He's old, to old to be a good Knuckle."

"How old is he?"

"Twenty-ish." Blade almost laughed, but didn't.

"What's your name?"

"I'm not saying."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." The boy crossed his arms defiantly. Behind his head, Hakiej's face said all to clearly, _He's a risk._

Blade didn't agree, but the boy had fallen forward, dead, before he could argue.

"Why'd you—"

"He was a risk."

"But—"

Blade was cut off as Hakiej kicked the black Iron Knuckle's axe out of his hand. He landed, spun, and brought his hand through in a ridgehand attack to the one weak spot on the armor—the neck.

The Knuckle dropped.

"Let's go."

Blade nodded, and continued on.

The Najibreza sensed the two fighters coming. The four of them readied themselves, drawing short swords and positioning.

Blade burst through the door. Seeing two tightly grouped enemies, he shot a ball of uncharged fire at them. An instant later, they were on the floor, writhing in pain.

Hakiej, with a single roundhouse kick, chopped a Najibreza in half. He had never seen these strange creatures before, but they seemed weak enough. A single punch dropped another.

The two warriors continued towards the door. The Najibreza that had been chopped in two reattached the parts. A hole in another's stomach regrew, although the two hit by fire were still unable to fight.

The two healthy Najibreza silently stalked their enemies up the stairs. The two intruders didn't notice.

When they made it up to the room with six Odentian elite fighters in it, the Najibreza nodded. One Odentian made the tiniest tilt of her head.

Blade cupped his hands, but a Najibreza stabbed him from behind. An etinabol then hit him on the shoulder, downing him.

Hakiej, using a flurry of kicks and punches, had dropped three Odentians and the other Najibreza. He made a skipping span kick to get the other Najibreza temporarily down. He'd have to get them more permanently after the Odentians were taken care of.

He made a backfist to an Odentian's stomach, and followed through with a punch. He swept another off his feet, and did a combination of an attack to the downed one and a double kick to the face of the one behind him. She fell.

He turned around, chopping one Najibreza into four parts, and throwing them into the corners of the room. He did the same with the other, but through his quarters to the midsection of each wall.

Blade moaned on the ground, and Hakiej realized his injury. He ran to Blade.

"The power from the potion!"

Blade nodded, recognition flashing in his eyes, and concentrated. A second later, he was on his feet.

The potion both of them had consumed allowed them to heal themselves, restore their magic power, and create a magical shield around them, at will, while it lasted. Blade had forgotten this.

After a minute, the two went up yet more stairs.

As they entered the room, Blade got a very bad feeling, although he couldn't see anything. Just a room, the only thing unusual about it four pillars, slightly discolored at the top…

"Assassi!" he realized, just as six shuriken made their way towards Hakiej. Hakiej batted them away with a fist.

Blade pulled out his bow, and let loose a trio of arrows at the nearest discoloration. Their aim was true, and an Assassi body—now gray, the camouflaging didn't work for the dead—could be seen falling to the floor. Luckily, the body blocked the eight shuriken heading for Blade that he couldn't see.

Blade managed to do the same thing thrice more, after time. The Assassi were dead.

Healing himself—he had been hit by a few stones from a sling—Blade started up what was hopefully the final set of stairs in this place, Hakiej following.

They opened a large stone door. It gave yield to the view of a man sitting in a large chair, a midnight-black sphere floating behind him.

And next to the sphere was the Triforce. But it was a corrupted Triforce. It was black, and decidedly evil.

****


	13. Twelve

PART FIVE ****

part Five

endgame

Chapter XII

The man who had to be Rasoginim laughed. It wasn't friendly, good laughter—it was horrible, only able to be produced by someone as evil as him.

He smiled, after the laughter.

"How about a little fun? I know you came here to stop me, but I think _I_ should get a little enjoyment too, don't you?"

Suddenly, they were no longer in the tower. They were in what had to be a gladiatorial arena, rare in civilized lands. Blade and Hakiej were standing in the circles marked on the ground to indicate the starting position for each fighter. Rasoginim was seated in the seat reserved for a king or someone similar, a grand throne in the first row.

"I had fun watching you fight my guards, but how about you each get a _real_ challenge? How about, say, each other?"

Blade suddenly felt a bubbling rage inside him, but not at Rasoginim.

At Hakiej.

Blade ran forward, at the same time as Hakiej. Blade drew his bow quickly, snapping off four shots, only one of which hit Hakiej. He put it away and took out his sword and shield. They exchanged blows, Blade coming off slightly the better. Hakiej kicked Blade's shield off his arm. Blade stabbed Hakiej quickly, and ran back. While Hakiej, about a hundred yards or so away now, recovered, Blade cupped his hands. The fireball grew as large as Blade dared, almost six inches. It shot out at Hakiej, travelling slowly because of its size.

Hakiej's blood boiled while the fireball was still twenty feet away. As a result, he was dead before the fireball even hit him. It served as cremation.

Rasoginim clapped. Through some magic or other, it came out as a whole stadium's applause.

"Good. Very good. I now will let you fight me. If you win, your prizes." He pointed to the Darksphere and the Triforce, which must have been teleported to the arena. "Right now, I will make them neutral. They will turn to the alignment of the next person who touches them." As he spoke, they went to a sort of grayish color.

"And if I win," he continued, "you will give me the promise that no one will ever resist me."

"I can't promise that. Besides, what good is a dead man's promise?" Blade replied.

Rasoginim pulled out a small box. "This is a thing of the High Magic. It is above good and evil, light and dark."

The box spoke, somehow—or rather, a voice came from the box. "The High Magic recognizes the prizes of this battle.

"If the champion of Hyrule, Gyrdia, Termina, and their surrounding lands, is victorious, the Darksphere and the Triforce will become good, and they will be awarded to him.

"If the champion of the Dark, is victorious, the Triforce and the Darksphere will remain evil, and in his possession. In addition, anyone attempting to resist him or his forces will be magically incapable of doing so.

"Let the battle begin."

Blade healed himself while Rasoginim walked to his circle.

As soon as he was in his circle, Rasoginim made an odd gesture. Blade felt a sudden pressure on his throat. He grasped at it…

He tried to heal himself, but realized that the potion's duration had run out.

The pressure continued. If only…

Rasoginim stopped. Blade felt his face burn.

"I think you should have more of a chance. It would be more fun for everyone, I think."

Blade heard sudden noises of a large crowd. He glanced at the stands behind Rasoginim, and saw they were suddenly full. He recognized Gyrdians, Gorons, Zora, Silvetria, Falcore, half-dragons, and countless other races.

"Why not have everyone affected able to watch?"

__

Shoot. He doesn't have to worry about accidentally hurting the crowd, but I do…

Before he finished that thought, Blade drew his bow and snapped off a quick flurry of five arrows.

As the arrows approached Rasoginim, he held up his hands. Lightning shot out from each fingertip. The bolts hit, two to an arrow. The arrows were turned into harmless dust. Archery, apparently, was pointless.

An uncharged fireball, this time. He had to be careful with these, because they could easily hit the crowd.

Rasoginim sidestepped the fireball. It continued on, but it luckily hit the wall without doing any damage.

The stadium seemed darker, suddenly. Blade noticed Rasoginim's hands above his head. He was gathering energy for some kind of attack, obviously.

It looked like it would take a while.

Blade ran up, his crystal sword at the ready. An instant before he hit Rasoginim, the attack hit him full-force.

Agony beyond anything he had ever imagined.

And then nothing.

Here is what a nearby spectator saw:

The good guy, the one with a crystal sword, ran toward the bad guy, the one charging something magic.

Just before the good guy's sword hit the bad guy, the bad guy hit him with the magic lightning ball thing. The good guy fell to the ground, writhing in pain. And then he stopped, his only movements the slight jerking of his dead body.

Just then, there was a terrific flash of light. A green-clad figure appeared upon a red-brown flash—a galloping horse. A sword glinted—

"Challenge! Link should not be involved in this battle! I have rightfully won! A challenge!"

And time froze.

****


	14. Thirteen

CHAPTER XIII ****

Chapter XIII

"A challenge!" Rasoginim called again. Epona stopped moving, and Link was thrown off her. He managed to perform a midair flip and land on his feet.

The voice of the High Magic came again from the box.

"The challenge holds. State your case, Rasoginim."

"The terms of the battle were that it was to be a one-on-one battle between myself and the champion of Hyrule, Gyrdia, Termina, and their surrounding lands. Blade was that champion, so Link has no place in this."

"Your argument, Link," said the neutral voice of the High Magic.

"I call for a vote. I believe _I _am the champion of Hyrule, Gyrdia, Termina, and their surrounding lands."

"But—"

Rasoginim's objection was cut off by the voice of the High Magic.

"The vote will be cast." The voice stopped for a second, and started again. "_Link_ is the champion."

"But—"

Rasoginim was cut off once more by the High Magic. "The battle will resume."

Link found himself on Epona once more, charging towards Rasoginim. The Master Sword burned in his left hand, its sacred magic deflecting the attacks of Rasoginim.

He closed to within twenty yards of Rasoginim. He readied the Master Sword, its blade a blinding color that was a combination of the silver of its blade and the gold of the Triforce—

Rasoginim was speared through the heart. He fell forward, onto his knees, and died.

"Link is victorious," stated the voice of the High Magic.

The Triforce and the Darksphere turned a brilliant gold. Link walked over to where they laid. He rested his hand on the Triforce first.

"Your wish," said the voice of the High Magic.

Link thought for an instant. "I wish that Rasoginim was killed by the guardians of the temple in which the Darksphere was hidden."

"That would cause a paradox," said the High Magic. "Choose a different wish."

Link thought, and then he knew.

He said it.

****


	15. Fourteen

PART SIX ****

part six

ePilogue

**Chapter XIV**

The Oracles, after their failed attempt at stopping Rasoginim, had managed to bring Link back from the dead using an ancient spell Farore had uncovered in Hakiej's library. They then told him everything Hakiej had in his library about Rasoginim, which was a lot.

Link was informed about the High Magic, which Rasoginim would obviously use to object to his being there. They made the plan to get around that.

Link's wish, however, was of his own planning. It was a relatively ingenious way around the paradox.

He wished that everyone killed during Rasoginim's invasion—with the exception of Rasoginim, his forces, Ganon, his forces, and the Odentians—were brought back to life. He also included that everything destroyed or stolen was replaced, in the condition that it was before. In addition, he wanted Ganon to be permanently slain, instead of just sealed in the Sacred Realm.

When Link returned to Hyrule (after endless thanks, gifts, and begs for autographs), he realized he had forgotten about the True Force to govern all. He decided that if he had to be king of everyone, he should probably marry Zelda (which he was going to, anyway—probably) sooner rather than later. Their marriage was the next week.

After a few years, they had children—they were named, in order from oldest, Blade and Hakiej (who were identical twins), Farore, Phoenix and Din (also twins, but not identical), and Nayru.

The kids followed after their namesakes—Blade could use the sword excellently from the age of eight, Hakiej was one of the best unarmed fighters, Farore prided herself on knowing almost everything she could, Phoenix was a great sorcerer, Din had a natural affinity with nature, and Nayru was interested in everything having to do with time travel.

In fact, the six of them once went on a great quest to save the world—but that is another story.

Link and Zelda were great rulers, only occasionally having minor problems. They were long known as the best rulers ever, until Hyrule, Gyrdia, Termina, and all the other countries were long lost into the mists of the past.

****


End file.
